Don’t let it rot on the plot

This initiative connects those with surplus garden or allotment produce and community groups such as foodbanks and community fridges to share the surplus in the community and avoid it going to waste.

SInce it started in 2023, there has been great engagement with a marked uptick in donations, including those illustrated above. Surplus shared in 2024 included:

• Apples (eating and cooking), crab apples, damsons, grapes, pears, plums (3 types) and rhubarb
• Bay leaves, beetroot, cabbage, chard seeds, cucumber, garlic chives, kale, lemon verbena, lettuce seeds, marrows, potatoes, pumpkins and runner beans.

Community groups that received the surplus included Woking Foodbank, Canalside Community Fridge, Knaphill Community Fridge, Shopwise eco food club, the Cosy cafe
and Foodwise teams at the Lighthouse in Woking.
4 crates of surplus apples were donated to Rosamund Community Garden for their Apple Pressing Day in September.

Urban Gleaning

Moving beyond allotments and gardens to public spaces, transforming urban spaces into edible places is the vision of Mundraub.org. On their free Mundraub Navigator app, there is a world map where you can find what fruit/nut trees/bushes and herbs are growing in your area; you can also use the app to register additional locations.

Note the following mundraub rules:

• Don’t pick if there’s any doubt about ownership
• Pick for personal use; commercial foraging needs an official license
• Be careful with trees, the surrounding nature and the animals that live there
• Share the fruits of your discoveries and get involved in the care or planting of fruit/nut trees/bushes.